Bootstrapping topic detection in conversations

Abstract

A computer system and method identifies topics in conversations, such as a conversation between a doctor and patient during a medical examination. The system and method generates, based on first text (such as a document corpus including previous clinical documentation), a plurality of sentence embeddings representing a plurality of semantic representations in a plurality of sentences in the training text. The system and method generate a classifier based on the second text, which includes a plurality of sections associated with a plurality of topics, and the plurality of sentence embeddings. The system and method generate, based on a sentence (such as a sentence in a doctor-patient conversation) and the classifier, an identifier of a topic to associate with the first sentence. The system and method may also insert the sentence into a section, associated with the identified topic, in a document (such as a clinical note).

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method, for identifying a first topic represented by a first sentence, performed by at least one computer processor executing computer program instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium, the method comprising:
 (A) generating, based on first text, a plurality of sentence embeddings representing a plurality of semantic representations of a plurality of sentences in the training text; 
 (B) generating, based on second text and the plurality of sentence embeddings, the second text comprising a plurality of sections associated with a plurality of topics, a classifier; 
 (C) generating, based on the first sentence and the classifier, a first identifier of the first topic to associate with the first sentence; and 
 (D) inserting the first sentence into a first section of a first document, the first section being associated with the first topic. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 (E) generating, based on a second sentence and the classifier, a second identifier of a second topic to associate with the second sentence. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 (F) inserting the second sentence into a second section of the first document, the second section being associated with the second topic. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 :
 wherein the second text comprises a plurality of documents; 
 wherein the plurality of documents comprises a first document comprising a first section in the plurality of sections, wherein the first section is associated with a first one of the plurality of topics; and 
 wherein the plurality of documents comprises a second document comprising a second section in the plurality of sections, wherein the second section is associated with the first one of the plurality of topics. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 :
 wherein the first document comprises a third section in the plurality of sections, wherein the third section is associated with a second one of the plurality of topics; and 
 wherein the second document comprises a fourth section in the plurality of sections, wherein the fourth section is associated with the second one of the plurality of topics. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 (E) generating, based on the classifier and data representing an utterance, an identifier of a topic to associate with the utterance. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first text includes the second text. 
     
     
       8. A system comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-readable instructions are executable by at least one computer processor to perform a method for identifying a first topic represented by a first sentence, the method comprising:
 (A) generating, based on first text, a plurality of sentence embeddings representing a plurality of semantic representations of a plurality of sentences in the training text; 
 (B) generating, based on second text and the plurality of sentence embeddings, the second text comprising a plurality of sections associated with a plurality of topics, a classifier; 
 (C) generating, based on the first sentence and the classifier, a first identifier of the first topic to associate with the first sentence; and 
 (D) inserting the first sentence into a first section of a first document, the first section being associated with the first topic. 
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises:
 (E) generating, based on a second sentence and the classifier, a second identifier of a second topic to associate with the second sentence. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises:
 (F) inserting the second sentence into a second section of the first document, the second section being associated with the second topic. 
 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 8 :
 wherein the second text comprises a plurality of documents; 
 wherein the plurality of documents comprises a first document comprising a first section in the plurality of sections, wherein the first section is associated with a first one of the plurality of topics; and 
 wherein the plurality of documents comprises a second document comprising a second section in the plurality of sections, wherein the second section is associated with the first one of the plurality of topics. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 :
 wherein the first document comprises a third section in the plurality of sections, wherein the third section is associated with a second one of the plurality of topics; and 
 wherein the second document comprises a fourth section in the plurality of sections, wherein the fourth section is associated with the second one of the plurality of topics. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises:
 (E) generating, based on the classifier and data representing an utterance, an identifier of a topic to associate with the utterance. 
 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the first text includes the second text.